Absence management policy: What UK employers need to know

Managing employee absence can be a tricky balance. On one hand, you want to support your team when they’re unwell or facing personal challenges. On the other, excessive absences can disrupt productivity and affect your bottom line.

That’s where a well-thought-out absence management policy comes in. If you’re an employer in the UK, here’s how to create a policy that’s fair, transparent, and effective.

Why your business needs a solid absence management policy

Without a clear policy in place, managing absences can become inconsistent, leading to frustration for both employees and management. A good policy:

• Sets clear expectations on what constitutes an acceptable level of absence

• Ensures employees understand their rights and responsibilities

• Helps managers handle absence-related issues consistently and fairly

• Reduces the risk of legal disputes by ensuring compliance with employment laws

Key components of an effective absence policy

Defining types of absence

Your policy should outline different types of absences, such as:

• Sick leave including both short-term and long-term sickness

• Planned leave, such as annual leave, parental leave, and unpaid leave

• Unplanned absence including emergencies and compassionate leave

• Unauthorised absence, where an employee doesn’t show up without explanation

How employees report absence (who, when, how)

Make sure employees know the absence reporting process. This should include:

• Who they should inform (their line manager or HR department)

• When they should report it (by a certain time in the morning)

• How they should report it (phone call, email, HR software)

• When they need to provide medical evidence, such as a fit note from a doctor

Evidence, documentation and return-to-work

Having a structured return-to-work process can help prevent repeat absences and identify any underlying issues. This could involve:

• A return-to-work interview to discuss any support the employee may need

• Adjustments if necessary, such as flexible working or phased returns

• Reviewing patterns of absence to identify any trends or concerns

Monitoring, triggers - dealing with persisitent or frequent absence

If an employee’s absence becomes frequent or prolonged, your policy should outline how you’ll handle it. This might include:

• Keeping open communication and offering support, such as Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs).

• Setting triggers for formal absence reviews, such as a Bradford Factor score or a set number of absences within a timeframe.

• Potential disciplinary actions if there is no valid reason for excessive absence.

Support, wellbeing and reasonable adjustments (especially for long-term absence or disability)

Long-term absence isn’t just a time-off problem, it’s a well-being and operational challenge rolled into one. Your absence management policy should reflect that by putting support and fairness front and centre.
Here’s how you can structure it:

• Emphasise wellbeing: Let employees know you’ll check in regularly, asking “How can we help you come back?” rather than just “When are you returning?”

• Offer tailored support: Outline options such as phased return → adjusted duties → remote working.

• Address reasonable adjustments: Show you understand when someone’s health or a disability means flexible working arrangements may be needed and state how you’ll approach that.

• Make it fair and consistent: Define who manages long-term absence, how you log it, what triggers a review, and how you’ll integrate someone’s return into the team and your wider attendance strategy.

• Communicate the process clearly: Document your support, monitoring, decision-making and return-to-work plan so no one’s left guessing, and you reduce the risk of unfair treatment or non-compliance.

Legal considerations

Your policy must comply with UK employment laws, including:

• Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): Ensuring employees receive at least the legal minimum if they qualify

• The Equality Act 2010: Making reasonable adjustments for employees with disabilities

• Data protection laws: Keeping absence-related information confidential and secure

Implementing your absence policy: From paper to practice

Communicating the policy to staff, embedding in culture

Your absence management policy will only work if your team knows it, understands it and has quick access to it.

• Introduce the policy with a launch note or meeting: cover why it exists, what’s expected and how it supports everyone.

• Use plain language and highlight where to find the policy

• Encourage managers and employees to view absence as part of your company culture not just a paper rule.

With BrightHr, get policy document templates and store your absence management policy into our document-storage feature so everyone can access it anytime.

Training your managers

A great policy is only useful if managers apply it consistently. Provide training so they know how to:

• Handle absence requests fairly

• Conduct return-to-work interviews sensitively

• Recognise when an absence might require additional support rather than discipline

Using technology and data to track absence and identify trends

Moving from spreadsheets to smart tools gives you far better visibility, accuracy and responsiveness.

• Start by ensuring every absence is logged with: who, when, type, reason (where appropriate), return date and follow-up.

• Review your data regularly: check team by team, role by role, to spot patterns like repeat short-term absences or long blocks.

• Use trigger thresholds (e.g., 3 times in 6 months) to flag where manager intervention or wellbeing support may be required.

Regularly review your policy

Laws change, and so do the needs of your workforce. Review your policy annually and get feedback from employees to ensure it remains effective and fair.

Get help creating an absence management policy for your business

Absence is a part of working life, but with the right approach and support, it doesn’t have to be a headache.

BrightHR offers a complete HR document library with customisable absence management policies that cover sick leave, unplanned absences and planned leave. Plus, with 24/7 HR and employment law advice you can rest assured that your policy will be in line with the law.

Learn more about our HR document library today! And remember a well-structured absence management policy helps create a fair and productive workplace while ensuring employees feel valued and supported.

If you haven’t reviewed your policy in a while, now’s the perfect time to give it a refresh. Your business—and your employees—will thank you for it!